The “father” of the programmable logic controller (PLC), Richard Morley, recently passed away at age 84. After he invented the device 50 years ago, it revolutionized plant floors around the world. The PLC eliminated the need for hard wiring and spurred the development of flexible manufacturing.

A similar revolution is occurring in factories today. It’s called IO-Link or IEC 61131-9, a worldwide open standard communication protocol governed by the IO-Link Consortium.